The Canadian-American cellist Elinor Frey performs and conducts Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's three cello concertos with the Accademia de' Dissonanti. These dramatic works, rich in turbulent exchanges yet also in tender moments, bear witness to C. P. E. Bach's fiery imagination, where emotion and melody take precedence. In Bach's time, personalising a performance was both common and expected. The question of 'how a cellist premiering these works would have approached these concertos' lies at the heart of this recording. Drawing on a vocabulary of ornamentation and melodic analysis derived from the music of the composer and his contemporaries, Frey has reconstructed the social milieu and instrumental practice of Bach's time, in order to approach the way in which this music was once heard and felt.

Ivan Fischer and Channel Classics release a recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Recorded live in October 2025 at the spectacular Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, this is the first volume of a Mozart trilogy, with The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro to follow in the coming years. With a dream duo (Andre Schuen as Don Giovanni and Luca Pisaroni as Leporello) and a first-rate cast, Ivan Fischer presents his vision of Mozart's masterpiece: 'In a nutshell the first two bars of this opera describe the story: the fight between order and rebellion. The basses repeat their constant bottom note three times, finally overpowering the revolutionary syncopations of the violins. The energetic, defiant violin notes represent Don Giovanni, the man, who doesn't accept any rules, who doesn't know limits. He follows his own instincts, uses and misuses his power, his wealth, his servant, to follow one goal only: his passion. On this journey he kills, he hurts, damages others, without any remorse or even second thoughts. He is perfectly free, happy, liberated from inner doubts and outer control, from all the regulations of what we call morality.'

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Florilegium is one of Britain's finest period instrument ensembles. Since their formation in 1991, they have established a reputation for stylish and exciting interpretations, from intimate chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral repertoire. This two disc collection features eleven of the twenty-four works from Telemann's Essercizii Musici. This selection of solo sonatas and trio sonatas offers the listener an insight into the different styles and instrumental combinations that make up Telemann's unique soundscape and ensure his music is immediately recognizable.

Ballades, sonnets, poems - in earlier days, these were the genres one could mainly encounter in literature or folklore. That is, until Chopin, Liszt and Scriabin introduced them to classical music. On her album Storyteller, pianist Anna Fedorova focuses on these three composers, how they explored the poetic genres, and how their compositions reflected the actual pieces of literature that inspired them.

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The Symphony No. 2 of Johannes Brahms was composed in the summer of 1877. It's cheery and almost pastoral mood often invite comparisons with Beethoven's sixth symphony. On this SACD from Channel Classics featuring Iván Fischer leading his Budapest Festival Orchestra, Brahms's 'pastoral' symphony is paired with two overtures. The Tragic Overture offers a somber contrast to the sunny mood of the symphony, while the Academic Festival Overture ends the program on a positive and uplifting note.

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Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Violinist Ning Feng performs the Complete Mozart Violin Concertos with the Kammerakademie Potsdam on Channel Classics Records. These 5 concertos were written because Mozart's father, Leopold, was frustrated at the thought of Wolfgang, on his travels, neglecting the violin as a possible source of income, as Mozart could himself play the violin beautifully, and he wrote brilliantly for the instrument. Composed mainly in 1775, these concertos display the theatrical twists and turns that were by now second nature to the 19-year-old composer, with his thoughts and dreams perpetually fixed on opera and the drama.

South African/Dutch clarinettist Maria du Toit and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Arjan Tien release 'Clarinet Colours' on Channel Classics. Exploring the contemporary clarinet repertoire of South African composers reveals a sound world of striking colour and contrast. Often described as the "Rainbow Nation," South Africa embodies a complex tapestry of cultures, languages, and histories, bound together by resilience and renewal. This album mirrors that spirit, showcasing the clarinet's remarkable versatility while tracing a wide spectrum of expressive colour and energy. The concertos by leading South African composers David Earl, Roelof Temmingh and Conrad Asman were written for, or dedicated to Maria du Toit.

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Classical Music

The choral music of Johannes Brahms spans much of his career as a composer. It's influences range from folk music to contrapuntal masterworks of the Renaissance and Baroque. Musicology has in it's infancy in the Romantic period, and Brahms was fascinated with 'old' music, especially the works of Bach. This illuminating selection of a cappella choral music features the supreme talents of the Swedish Radio Choir led by Peter Dijkstra.

Rosanne Philippens is considered one of the most promising violin talents in the Netherlands. Her open and communicative style of performance won her first prizes at competitions including the Dutch National Violin Competition in 2009 and the Freiburg International Violin Competition in 2014. This release from Channel Classics focuses on Polish and Russian works inspired by myths and legends. Philippens is joined by pianist Julien Quentin as well as the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest led by Xian Zhang in performances of Szymanowski's Mythes and Violin Concerto and Stravinsky's Chanson Russe and L'Oiseau de Feu.

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Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music